A girl's life with diabetes and heavy lifting.

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Well, truth be told, I’ve been back for a few weeks, but things have been so busy around here that I’m only now getting the time to sit down and tell you all about my trip to Iceland with the Canadian Diabetes Association and Team Diabetes. Warning, this post is very long and has lots of pictures!!!

I signed up for this fundraising excursion last September for two main reasons.

1. I had just been diagnosed 4 months prior and was very much in a fuck-you-diabetes-I-can-do-whatever-I-want-you-don’t-control-me phase. It was very much on a whim, as I could do this amazing adventure, despite having diabetes, while raising money for diabetes research.

2. One of the options was a 10km race in Reykjavik. ICELAND. It’s been on my list of places to go, so when I saw it, plus the fact that I didn’t have to do a full or half marathon (did I mention I don’t really like running?).

I was sold. Over the past year I’ve been working hard to raise the money required for the trip ($6100) and managed to reach my goal! So on August 21, I left a warm sunny Halifax for Reykjavik, and another stamp in my passport!

The trip to Reykjavik was long. I first flew to Boston, where I had a 5 hour layover before continuing on with IcelandAir. It wasn’t all bad though, as I managed to snag a couple of bags of my favourite US treats!

Why we don’t have these in Canada is beyond me…so delicious!

We flew overnight to Reykjavik and arrived at 6am. It was a bit of a shock. I left Halifax with it’s warm and sunny weather, and arrived in Reykjavik with cold, wind and rain. It was I’d been transported to a late Halifax fall, instead of summer. To be fair, it wasn’t that cold, I just wasn’t acclimatized to it. But I was sure happy I packed my warm clothes!

We met up with a lot of other Team D people in the airport, with most of us coming in from the Boston flight. We were transported to our hotel, where we weren’t able to check in for another couple of hours. So I set off with some of the people I met to go out and explore the city! Reykjavik is a small city, but it’s got a great feel to it and some pretty cool sights!

Street signs!

View of Church from main street

Graffiti

Statue of Leif Eriksson in front of the Church

Engraved doors on the Church

Inside, very plain, not as elaborately decorated as most churches I’ve seen

View from the Church tower

View from the Church tower

Inside view of the clock face in the tower

Street view!

When I was finally able to check into my room, I passed out for a good solid nap! But not before I booked my tour for the next day…horseback riding!! I’d heard lots about the Icelandic horse, and hadn’t ridden in about 6 years so I decided to give it a go! Since my race was going to be the day after, I wisely chose a short ride so my legs didn’t seize up. It ended up being the perfect amount, as there was no pain or stiffness the next day! My horse was…how can I put this? Spunky. He was not happy to just plod happily along, he had attitude and wanted to be near the front! Which was ok, he was still well behaved and wasn’t anything I couldn’t handle. As the guide said before handing him over to me, “Not too lazy, not too crazy!”

Look how little they are!!

My horse! Skottoplassis (at least I think that’s what he said…)

Taking a quick break

What happens when you try to take a selfie – with your phone- on top of a moving animal…I did it for you Alanna!

With a landscape like this, I can see how trolls and elves play a big part in their folklore

Loving it and rocking the stylish orange pants

The next day was race day. Since I was running the 10K, I had a 9:30 start time. So I got up and went for breakfast at 8:30 (on a side note, I had pain au chocolat – basically a chocolate filled croissant – every morning. And no I’m not sorry). This is where I made my first mistake. I gave a normal breakfast bolus, not realizing at the time that my insulin would be peaking right at the time I started the race. Damnit! Luckily for me, I started the race at 11.5 so I had a lot of room to work with. I ran the first half with another lady from Halifax and carried on by myself when she stopped at the 4km water stop. I stopped to check my blood sugar at 5km (yay bra with pockets!!) and I had dropped to about 4.4. So I shoved some Dex in my mouth and carried on. I made sure to grab some Powerade at the next rest stop, as well as after I crossed the finish line. I was a little worried going into this race because I still hadn’t run a full 10k before I left and my last training run in Halifax I was dead by 7.5. However, in Iceland, it felt fantastic! I don’t know if it was the race atmosphere, cool weather conditions (only 12 degrees Celcius – perfect) or the fact that I was just having fun with it. The awesome part was wearing my Team Diabetes shirts and getting cheers from spectators for both being Canadian and for diabetes! I finished the race with a time of 1:09, which I was really happy with! I would have done it sooner, but I stopped to change my music so I finished the race with my two favourite songs. “Feel so Close” by Calvin Harris for all the people I wish I could have had there with me. My family, my boyfriend, and every single person who donated and helped me to get there. The second was “Beautiful” by Social Code. That one was for me. I had it cranked as I crossed the finish line. I’m not going to lie, I was bawling. Between the race atmosphere, having just finished my first race since being diagnosed, and the giant hug I got from another Team D member as I crossed, I was a mess. But I felt amazing. I worked hard to get there, I killed it, and I did all while raising money for diabetes. It was a good day!

Pre-race! So full of colour (minus my bright purple Nikes I left at home…Sadness!)

At the start line. So many people!

Post race and just after I managed to pull myself together

Oh and did I mention I had to pee for the entire 10K? Like almost pee-my-pants bad? I almost stopped and searched for something to hide behind. Luckily I managed to finish the race and make it back to the hotel without any accidents. Lesson learned: always go before you go to the start line!!

The next day, I went to one of Iceland’s most famous attractions, the Blue Lagoon hot springs. I booked my ticket way in advance because this was the number one thing on my list and I was not missing it! Good thing I did too because when I got there, the line up was HUGE!! It was incredible though, and so beautiful. I have never seen water that colour before. It’s apparently caused by all of the silica in the water and it’s supposed to be amazing for your skin. There’s even stations around the pools where you can put lagoon’s signature silica mud on you. Really cool! It was a fantastic, luxurious way to spend the day after the race. I could have spent hours there but I had to head back for the Team D celebration dinner!

Volcanic rocks on the path to the lagoon. So many colours!

Such a beautiful blue colour!

You can see the silica build up on the rocks

Sadly, the very next day I was on my way back to Canada. I didn’t get nearly as much time as I wanted, but I didn’t have the time off or the money to stay longer. Iceland was amazing and I would definitely recommend it to anyone who’s thinking of going. I had a fantastic experience, and I’d love to go back. If you ever do go, bring more money that you think you need (it’s expensive – $10 for a beer!!) warmer clothes than you think you’ll need, and make sure to stop in at the Sea Baron on the water front for a bowl of their lobster soup. Trust me on that last one.

So I’ve made mention in the past on this blog that I’ve been involved in a fundraising initiative with the Canadian Diabetes Associan, called Team Diabetes. What it involves is an individual fundraising on behalf of the organization, and if you reach the goals they set out, you are sent to an exotic locale to compete in a race of varying distances. It’s an awesome idea, and one that’s used by a few different charities as well.

Well guess what…

I DID IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Between September 2012 and July 2013 (approximately 10 months), I met my goal and raised just over $6100 for the Canadian Diabetes Association.

Holy shit!

Me! I did that! With the help and support of my amazing friends and family, both here in Nova Scotia and back in Alberta. The really amazing part? of that $6100, only about $1500 came from organized fundraising events. Meaning that the rest, around $4600, was entirely personal donations. I’m literally blown away. To everyone who helped me out, I can’t thank you enough, and I love you all. I couldn’t have done it without your support and I am so grateful.

And now for the big question…where am I going?

Reykjavik, Iceland!!

I’m so excited it’s not even funny. Iceland has been on my list of places to go for a few years now, and I’m stoked! Especially to do it now, with diabetes, while raising money for diabetes. I’ll probably be one of those people who cry crossing the finish line. Not even kidding.

While I’m not doing the full marathon (my body was NOT built for 42km thankyouverymuch), I’ll be doing the 10k distance of the Reykjavik marathon. The only running I’ve been doing lately is for rugby so I have to start putting on some miles. I did 7k on Saturday, even though I only meant to do 5…apparently my route planning skills are a big fail. Things to work on. I have to do it soon though, I leave in 6 weeks!

Yesterday was a big day for me. After two years of work, through all of life’s ups, downs and distractions (including a diabetes diagnosis) I finally reached a milestone in my training. 5 chin ups! In a row. EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was close before I got diagnosed, doing about 3 in a row, and when I got sick I thought it would take me another long while before I got close again. But here I am, almost 4 months after diagnosis and I pulled myself up over that bar 5 freaking times! Cue excited music, and in my head happy dance!

I wish my happy dance was this cool…

This also makes me happy because as of this week, my goals have officially changed. I found out that I no longer qualify for the powerlifting meet I wanted to do (they changed the qualifying numbers and I came up about 30lbs short…damnit!!) so I found something else to work towards.

A 10km run.

In Iceland.

No, I’m not kidding! I signed up to be a part of the Team Diabetes fundraiser for the Canadian Diabetes Association, so I agreed to raise at least $6100 for them, and they’ll fly me to Iceland to participate in the event. I’ve always wanted to go to Iceland, and if I can manage to go while raising money for diabetes, then all the better!!

Now here’s the kicker…I hate running.

Actually, that’s not fair. I don’t hate running, it’s just not my favourite form of activity. As I’ve mention numerous times before, I love weight training. There’s just something about lifting heavy stuff that makes me feel so amazing, healthy and powerful. Running makes me feel like I’m going to die. My sister was always the runner, not me. So to do this is going to require some extra dedication on my part.

Because I didn’t just sign up for the race. No no no no no. That would be too easy. I also set a time goal for myself (obviously I’m an idiot). I ran the Bluenose 10km race here in Halifax last May, and I managed to do that in 1:04:32 or something like that. So for this one, I’m aiming for 55 minutes or less. Who does that??? Answer: Crazy people.

So now my fitness goals are going to be working on my endurance and running speed, while trying to maintain strength (after all, the Nova Scotia provincial powerlifting meet is in the spring!). I’ll be keeping my time in the weight room as well as now adding runs in when I can. Sounds like fun eh? I’ll let you know how it goes. Just so you can laugh at my expense. I’m not above a little self deprecating humour!

Also, if any of you would like to make a donation to myself and Team Diabetes, please click here. Every little bit helps!